Bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers back medical device tax repeal

Pennsylvania lawmakers from both parties are supporting the renewed push to repeal a tax on medical device sales created to help pay for the 2010 health care law.

While Republicans U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent have been advocates for rolling back the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices since its inception, this is the first time Democrats U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz have signed on as co-sponsors of the repeal as well.

The repeal measure passed the GOP-controlled House in June 2012 and Schwartz voted against it then. While Casey wasn't a co-sponsor before this week, he did sign a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2012 asking for delay in the implementation of the medical device excise tax.

The tax went into effect at the beginning of the year and is expected to raise around $30 billion over a decade to pay for the health care law. There are about 2,400 Pennsylvania medical device manufacturers or suppliers and many, big and small, are located in the Lehigh Valley.

“I have talked to small businesses and manufacturers throughout Pennsylvania that have been unfairly burdened by medical device tax,” Casey said in a statement explaining his support. “We have tens of thousands of jobs connected to the medical device industry. This is a common sense measure to improve current law and ensure we are doing everything we can to encourage innovation and job creation.”

With the tax already being collected and the health care law deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, it's considered unlikely the repeal will be successful.